Marvel wraps up Norman Osborn's Dark Reign in earnest tomorrow with end of Siege and its few remaining Avengers titles. Marvel's Heroic Age is upon us, but there's no Howard The Duck title on the stands. I call fowl!

What Siege-related titles are lined up this week? First off, we have Siege 4 - the Sentry has gone completely bonkers, and its up to all of herodom to take down the lunatic with the power of one million exploding suns. There's also the final issues of Dark Avengers (I'm going to miss Hawkeye Bullseye and sleazy Ms. Marvel. They made such a cute couple), New Avengers (this title will be resurrected at issue 1 in June with Ben Grimm in tow), Avengers: The Initiative, and Siege: Embedded 4. There's also Fallen - a mysterious tribute issue to the poor cape who kicks it tomorrow - and Heroic Age Previews, a free rundown of Marvel's upcoming titles.

What other comics will besiege your wallet this week?

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Batman: Return Of Bruce Wayne 1 (DC): Bruce Wayne wends his way through the time stream, starting with the prehistory of Gotham City and wearing a giant, dead flying rodent as a chapeau.

Astonishing X-Men Xenogenesis 1 (Marvel): I like that Warren Ellis writes the X-Men akin to BPRD - a merry band of weirdos who go to exotic locales and get mixed up in forces beyond their comprehension.

Light 2: (Image) This series kicked off with an endearingly technophobic premise - "What if electrical light suddenly caused people to explode?"

Justice League Generation Lost 1 (DC): Frankly, I'd rather see another Formerly Known as the Justice League, but it's Keith Giffen writing a Super Buddies fable in the wake of Blackest Night. I'll take what I can get.

As for graphic novels, we have Pride And Prejudice And Zombies: The Graphic Novel (Random House, you know if you're the target audience already), Sweet Tooth Vol 1: Out Of The Woods (DC/Vertigo, Jeff Lemire's post-apocalyptic animal-boy series is a critical darling), and Essential X-Men Vol 3 (Marvel, classic head-trip Claremont stuff featuring Dr. Doom and Dracula. I always loved how Dracula - of all the incongruous characters from literary history - was the guy who had some serious beef with the X-Men).

What's MY PICK OF THE WEEK? The Ex Machina Vol 9: Ring Out The Old trade paperback (DC/Wildstorm). Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris' enjoyable superhero-as-Manhattan's-mayor tale comes out once in a blue moon, so any Ex Machina is good Ex Machina. Tony Harris' photo-realistic art pushes this title over the top and Vaughan is quick with the barbs.

As usual, you can find a list of this week's releases here and the location of your friendly neighborhood comic shop here. Happy reading, gang!